Sorry, Eerie Number
by Adventures of the Blue Car
Summary: Dialing a number from a comic book ad should be straight forward for Marshall Teller. It isn't. He instead is connected to a mysterious, lonely girl. Eerie Indiana Fanfic.
1. Comics and Sunsets

Eerie, Indiana- my home, sweet home. Prior to my life here I had a life in New Jersey. But Eerie makes Jersey seem like Wholesomeville. What am I talking about you ask?

I'm sure you've seen Eerie's clean streets, ice-cream vans in every park, lemonade stands on the greenest front lawns, and friendly pedestrians waving at you. But it's all an illusion of the dark undercurrent that long ago made this town the center of weirdness for the entire planet.

Take the World o' Stuff for example: nothing can be bought from Eerie's corner store without weirdness stalking you home and biting you on the butt.

The World O' Stuff had the most distinctive smell of chocolate malts mixed with old library pages; I liked it.

My friend Simon Holmes and I were in there one bright afternoon. As the sun set through the store windows, we riffled through the comic book shelf in the vain hope of finding a new and exciting comic worth spending our pocket money on.

Simon had a curfew of sunset to be home and sitting at the homework table, that also doubled for a torture table when he wasn't home by sunset. So Simon gave up the comic search, said 'see you later' and left the store.

"Having trouble making up your mind, Marshall?" Storeowner, Mr. Radford, asked me from behind the long wooden bar counter.

"You really need to get some better comics in here, Mr. Radford." I pleaded.

He scratched his mustache with his index finger. "You know what? I believe you're right. Besides you and Simon, no other kids go anywhere near the comic shelf."

Mr. Radford then pointed out the corner door to the silhouette of a few kids from school, guys and girls, just standing and chatting. "They just hang out front, talking about nothing."

"You can hear them?" I asked, picking up a comic from the bottom row.

"I can when I go down to the basement and stand by the drain pipe." Radford admitted.

"That's eavesdropping, Mr. Radford." I said before curiosity got the better of me. "What do they talk about?"

Mr. Radford then held his palms out and parted the air with them, "nothing!"

I knew I had to be getting home soon. I grabbed the random comic I was holding as it was only a buck and took it over to the counter, taking a seat on one of the many stools.

As I handed over a wrinkled dollar from my pocket, Mr. Radford asked, "Marshall, why aren't you out there talking to the girls about nothing with the other boys your age?"

Without thinking I answered, "Because this town would fall apart if I started to ignore the darkness that leaks through every so often, and instead talked about the news and weather." Then, with my comic, I left the World O' Stuff and as I passed the kids from school outside, I could have sworn they were all muttering, "nothing," repeatedly.

Don't get me wrong; Eerie is a beautiful place on the surface. As I rode my bike home that evening, the fresh spring air reminded me of that beauty and as each streetlight almost magically switched on as I peddled by, I couldn't think of a nicer, more American town to live in. Had Eerie finally worn me down? Don't worry, I was about to get a wakeup call placed by mega voodoo weirdness.


	2. Sorry, Eerie Number

After dinner: Mom's meatloaf, I retreated to the dusty attic and to my secret spot where Simon and I store all the collected evidence that proves Eerie is the center of weirdness.

I sat at the old writing desk and yanked out my new comic book. It was about a superhero, whose powers of X-Ray vision always caught the criminals by giving them cancer. 'Cancer Giver,' might deserve a place of his own in the secret spot. 

It was an alright comic, but what really got my attention was the full page ad that was selling a 'Genuine Bigfoot Tracker.' The black and white, newspaper-type picture showed a calculator-like device covered in fur. For just $19.99, I had to get it because in a couple of nights Simon and I planned to resume our hunt for Eerie's abominable Sasquatch. 

As Mom and Dad were still active down in the kitchen and living room, I knew my one chance of making a secret telephone call to order the Bigfoot tracker was to sneak into my sister's room. Syndi's lifelong love affair with the curled chord of the telephone prompted Mom and Dad to install one in her room- if my classmates talked about nothing, Syndi on the other hand talked about everything. 

Fortunately tonight she was on work experience with the Eerie Examiner, tracking down inner city drug lords for an exclusive interview. Needless to say, I didn't expect her back anytime soon. 

After closing her painted pink door, I entered her chirpy, poster covered room and sat on her beanbag full of stuffed animals and started dialing the Bigfoot Tracker number on her even pinker phone. 

"Hello?" a girl's voice answered. It wasn't the customer friendly greeting from a corporation that I was expecting. 

"Um. Is this, 555-0789?" I asked, slightly nervous. 

"No," the teenage sounding girl answered. "This is 555-0788." 

"Oh, I'm sorry." I was about to hang up when she spoke again.

"Oh no, don't be. I was so bored anyway, I'm glad you called. What's your name?" 

"Marshall." I answered, cautiously. "What's yours?" 

"Karen. Nice to meet you Marshall." 

It was amazing; we hit it off straight away after I sheepishly explained I was actually trying to order something from a comic book, Karen liked comics too but not the adventures of 'Cancer Giver.' It was great to laugh with her, as she had the best contagious laugh. 

That night, sitting cross legged along with toys in the beanbag, we spent two hours talking about the weather, an hour on the turbulent political climate- that I had learnt from the newspapers I delivered every Sunday, and half an hour on different genres of music. It was so refreshing to chat with a girl like Karen who didn't make my eyes roll over with stupidity.

When nine o'clock ticked around, so did the headlights of the Eerie Examiner's van in our driveway. Syndi was home. 

"Karen, my sister's home and I'm kind of on her phone. I've gotta go." I quickly explained as I heard the front door open downstairs. 

"Will you call again tomorrow night, Mars?" She asked.

Normally I would have been thrilled that a girl was still interested in talking, but I could hear my sister's footsteps plodding up the staircase. 

"Sure, speak to you then, bye!" I rapidly said before hanging up the phone and jumping out of the beanbag. At that moment, the pink bedroom door began to open. I would have dived into the closet if I had more time but ended up rolling under the bed. 

Syndi entered, kicking off her shoes and walking straight to the beanbag. 

"Please don't sit in it, please don't sit in it," I said over and over in my mind, as it was no doubt still warm from my hours of use. 

Thankfully she remained standing and I heard her dial a number, probably one of her friends'. 

"Tiffany, you will not believe the super exciting night I've had!" Syndi said before sitting on her bed and squashing me in position. 

As she lied down, further trapping me under her mattress, she continued boasting about her night in Indianapolis. "Well, we infiltrated the drug cartel by climbing down their laundry chute. I know! It was super cool. The big bosses were water boarding an F.B.I plant they had discovered. I don't know, lilac I think." 

The boring conversation lasted all night and I ended up falling asleep under there.


	3. Return Call

The next day at school, I couldn't wait to tell Simon about Karen. But he didn't seem too interested. 

"She sounds neat. But are we still going on our Bigfoot hunt tomorrow night?" Simon asked as we walked up the steps to the school entrance, backpacks slung over our shoulders. 

"Um, yeah." I said. "But I never got around to ordering that Bigfoot tracker, maybe it'll be best if we hang off until we get one?" 

Simon smirked and yanked a fully furred Bigfoot tracker from his jacket pocket as we walked down the locker-lined hall. 

"Alright!" I said as we high fived. 

"Meet you after school so we can test it out?" Simon asked. 

"I can't." I said, wiping the smile from my face. "I promised Karen I'd call her." 

Simon too lost his smile as we neared each other's classrooms. I tried to bring his back. "But don't worry, Bigfoot hunting tomorrow night for sure." 

Simon managed a grin and we split into our different rooms.

Our history teacher, Miss Earhart, gave the most dramatic lesson of her life- all about the Third Reich's connection to Leprechauns. But sitting at my desk, all I could think about was Karen's soft voice. 

That afternoon, I raced my bike home. Peddling past the World O' Stuff and the kids talking about nothing, past the basketball court and the unison bouncing ball practice and under the suburban street lights that hadn't begun to think about turning on yet.

Normally I wouldn't be so excited to get home as early as possible, but it felt like I had a date. 

Mom was in the living room with _her_ date, the soap opera- 'The Old and the Stressful,' and Dad was in the kitchen attempting to cure various tobacco-filled balloons of lung cancer for his company 'Things Incorporated.' 

I rushed upstairs, mega pleased that Syndi was spending the night on deathrow, interviewing convicted serial killers on their thoughts of loneliness. 

I jumped in the beanbag and dialed Karen's number. Her voice was music to my ears. I talked about my day at school, and she talked about being home schooled by her Dad. No wonder she was excited when I called the previous night. It must be hard for her not seeing friends everyday or not learning 'bout the history of Nazi Leprechauns. 

We chatted about the seasonal weather before I brought up my passion- the weirdness that is Eerie. But she thought I was crazy because she, like most people, thought Eerie was the most ordinary town in the country. 

"I have a desk full of weird evidence in my attic," I said. "You should come over and I'll show you." 

Silence then fell over the line: nothing but the crackle of slight static and the chirping of distant birds filled my ear. That silence rang louder and louder until I said, "Karen? Are you still there?" 

"Yeah," she eventually answered. 

"What's the matter?" I asked. 

"Mars, I don't think we should meet in person." 

I was shocked, as I had expected to meet her eventually. "Why? We seem to be getting along great." 

After an agonizing pause she spoke, "there's things about me that I'm scared would change how you feel about me. Now please, I better go, dad's calling me for dinner." 

"Fine," I said, still upset that she didn't want to see me. 

"Call me tomorrow?" She asked, anxiously. 

"Maybe," I mumbled. "Bye." I then hung up the phone and slinked back in the beanbag, running my hands across my face and staring at the ceiling. I was angry, as I thought my time with Karen was leading to something bigger and better. But it seemed like I was just involved in some dumb phonecall that entertained her in between doing other things, just like reading a comic because there's nothing on TV. I was Karen's comic, I feared. 

The pink door suddenly swung open and Syndi burst in. "Marshall, what are you doing in my room?"


	4. Talkin' 'Bout Nothin'

"Nothing," I said, as I stormed out of her room. I didn't care I got caught, I didn't care about anything much anymore.

The next day at school went by in a blur. Sleep had helped to put some distance between the abrupt way I had ended Karen's call, making me feel less frustrated. 

After school, I took Mr. Radford's advice by joining the kids who hung outside the World O' Stuff. It was true that Karen and I talked mainly about the news, weather and politics but these kids really did talk about nothing. 

"What did you get up to last night?" a girl with a backwards cap asked another one of them. He responded, "nothing." 

Although I was happy that I had given talking about nothing a try, I realized it wasn't for me and more importantly- I felt I had been too harsh towards Karen. Even if she was destined to be just a voice on the telephone, she was much more of a conversationalist than the World O' Stuff kids. 

Before I could slink away, Simon came running over from across the street. He was dressed in full camouflage gear and held the Bigfoot tracker. 

"Ready for good old fashioned Bigfoot hunting, Mars?" He excitedly asked. The kids immediately burst into laughter. 

"Shut up!" I snapped. "We all can't be mega-boring automatons who stand on the same corner every afternoon talking about nothing!" 

"Whoa," one of them exclaimed as he grabbed my jacket. The others grabbed Simon. "What say we talk about how we can teach you a lesson instead!" 

"You might not want to do that," I warned, trying to think of my next move. 

"And why is that?" the boy who held me asked with a smirk. 

"Ah, This corner is... haunted!" 

The gang laughed even louder than before. 

"Don't try and pull your spooky stuff on us, Teller." 

"No, it's true," I said, looking down at the cast iron drainpipe. "The ghost of the old owner of the World O' Stuff ears drops on anyone who dares to stand outside his store." 

"Yeah right," the girl with the backwards cap said. 

A loud moaning then echoed up from the drain. 

"Whose that?" the boy who held me asked in freight. 

The moaning then whaled, "Either enter my store and purchase things or go home!" 

The kids let Simon and me go and rushed away in all different directions from the store. 

I leaned down to the drainpipe, "nice try Mr. Radford, you almost got some customers." 

"What are you talking about, Marshall?" Mr. Radford said, standing at the door with a broom. 

"Ah, Nothing," I answered in total surprise. I didn't have time to consider the possible real haunting of the World O' Stuff. 

"Ready to hit the woods, Mars?" Simon asked, tuning the Bigfoot tracker to 'seek.' 

"Actually Simon, I need to make an important phone call first. Can I use your phone, Mr. Radford?" 

"But it's already sunset," Simon reminded me. "We'll have no way of tracking Bigfoot in total darkness, with or without the tracker." 

I knew he was also worried about his homework table transforming into the torture table if we stayed out too late. "You go ahead," I said, pointing to his cell phone on his utility belt. "And call the World O' Stuff when you're in a good position and I'll come running." I patted Simon on the shoulder, hoping he'd buy my plan. 

"Okay," he sheepishly said, as he shuffled away with scrapping sneakers on the sidewalk. 

"So can I, Mr. Radford?" I asked again. 

"Certainly. Thanks to you I have my storefront back. Just how did you get rid of those punks?" he asked as we entered the dusty air particled store. 

"Oh, just talked to them about nothing. Seemed to work." I said, not really thinking. My attention was instead focused on the telephone at the end of the bar. I rushed to the phone, picked it up and dialed Karen's number. 

It rang and rang and I was worried she wouldn't answer but then, "Hello?" a man answered. Must have been Karen's Dad. 

"Hi. I'm Marshall Teller. I was wanting to speak with Karen. Is she home?" 

"Just a moment." I heard the deep voiced man put the phone down and call Karen. I heard birds over the line; Karen didn't say she had pet birds. I then grew sad that I had missed asking about pets and things because I was so stubborn with her the last time we spoke. 

"Hi," the deep voiced man came back on. 

"Hi?" I answered, a little worried. 

"Yeah, Karen doesn't want to speak to you anymore, son." 

"No wait, it's important, we're friends." I said, desperately. 

"Look, she's feeding the birds. Maybe you can call back later. Okay?" I could tell he was feeling sorry for me. 

"Okay. Thanks. Bye." I hung up the phone with a heavy thud. 

"Careful Marshall, it's the only phone I've got." Mr. Radford said as he dusted the telephones for sale shelf. 

The phone then rang. I jumped and answered with excitement. "Hello?" 

"Marshall!" Simon's voice said, urgently. 

"Oh, it's you," I didn't bother hiding my disappointment. 

"If it's the Censes Bureau, tell them you and 17 other people live here." Mr. Radford pleaded. 

"It's only Simon," I told him. "What is it?" 

"Mars, I've found the Bigfoot habitat!" 

"Yeah?" I was still feeling crumby about Karen not wanting to talk to me. 

"You've got to come see this! In the middle of the woods they have a living room made of trunk couches and stump tables. They even have a telephone made of pinecones!"

"Alright Simon, I'll be out there soon." I hung up. I couldn't think straight anymore. I just had to talk to Karen, because I couldn't function until I did. 

The phone rang and rang again until, "Hello?" 

"Karen!" I almost shouted. "It's me- Mars." 

"Hi," she said, simply. 

"Look, I'm really sorry I was angry last night. If you don't want to meet for awhile, that's cool." 

There was then silence, except for her breathing and the same chirping birds. It was funny because I had heard the same birds during Simon's last call too. 

"Are you still there?" I asked. 

"Mars, thanks for calling back but I've got to go. We have someone at our door." 

A call waiting tone then started ringing. 

"Wait a minute, Karen, I've got a call on the other line. Mr. Radford, how do I answer another call?" 

"Hit #1." Radford instructed. 

I did and it was Simon again. "Marshall, I think they've spotted me!" 

"They've?" I asked. 

"Yeah, the Daddy Bigfoot and the daughter Bigfoot." 

"How do you know she's a daughter Bigfoot?" 

"Because." Simon said. "She has a pink bow in her hair and she's on the pinecone phone like every other teenage girl." As Simon spoke I also heard the same birds in the background, chirping away.


	5. Simon's Retreat

A shiver ran down my spine. "Simon, is she on the phone right now?" 

"Yeah, her Dad is circling her." 

"Okay, hang on." I said just before hitting #1 again. On Karen's line she was in mid-conversation with her Dad. 

"No Daddy, don't kill him, he's just curious." She begged. 

"Don't kill who?" I quickly asked. 

"Marshall, there's an intruder at our door and my Dad doesn't think he's going away." 

"Okay, hang on!" I quickly went back to Simon's call. "Simon. You've got to run, the Bigfoot is planning to come after you." 

"Okay, Mars. Meet you back at your house." Simon hung up and I was automatically back to Karen's call. 

"Look Dad, he's leaving. He's running away. It's okay- you don't have to hurt him." Karen said. 

"Karen, how's your Dad?" I asked. 

"He's fine, the intruder's gone." She conveyed with relief. 

"Karen... I.." I couldn't think of the way to tell her what I was feeling, what I knew I had to tell her. 

"Yes, Mars?" 

"I, I'm sorry about last night and I'd like to go on being phone pals, if you want to that is." 

"Of course, that's all I ever wanted."

I smiled with relief, after all that had happened I hadn't lost a friend. So what if she was a teenage Bigfoot? She probably wasn't too thrilled that I was a teenage boy. But via the magic of the telephone, we eventually managed to put aside prior prejudices and accept each other as individuals. 

Simon and I locked the Bigfoot Tracker in the secret spot, as we had no need to track Bigfoot anymore. 

Karen and I did meet face to face eventually, but that's another story.


End file.
